Today was our first full day in Puerto Rico. Our bus came to get us all at our hotel, Aquatica, a little after 8 am. From there it took us about half an hour to reach the old city. A few of us started off the morning with coffee from a little coffee hut in a small square next to the Governor’s House. After that we had a private tour of La Fortaleza. Construction of La Fortaleza began in 1533. This was probably our first history lesson of the island and we learned a tad bit about the relationship between the US and Puerto Rico. The first governors was appointed by the King of Spain and then by the President of the United States. Puerto Ricans democratically elected their first governor in 1949.
After La Fortaleza, we ate a quick lunch, most of us went to El Meson, and few of us went and had some Piña Coladas at the restaurant where they were invented. We all met up at a small plaza with a large totem dedicated to the Tainos and other Native American tribes. We talked about the different influences in Puerto Rico, and how there is still an element of racism here.
When we finished lunch we all headed to the Castillo San Felipe del Morro. It is the largest fort in the Caribbean, and we spent an hour exploring the 4 different levels that once would protect the city from invaders. Just outside of the fort is a cemetery where prominent and important Puerto Ricans are buried.
That was about a 6 hour tour of Old San Juan, after which we got into our little bus and headed back to Loiza. The traffic leaving the old city was pretty bad. We made it back to Aquatica and had a group discussion about what we saw, learned, or what we had questions about. Finally it was time to get to the beach and then the hot tube. All in all it was a pretty successful day.
The part that stood out to me the most was the part about the politics. There was a political element in nearly every aspect of life in Puerto Rico. And it was not always easy to hear about, especially the negative aspects of the day to day life that are a direct result from American foreign interests. An example of that would be that everything that is produced in Puerto Rico has to be shipped to the States and then re-sold at a higher price back to Puerto Rico. This was something that struck a chord with me. I have been to other countries where I have been called an imperialist solely based on the fact that I am an American. It never really bothered me before, and I am aware that many practices could be considered neo-colonialism or imperialistic. The part that I found very strange was that even with this background information I was still upset when I went to the fort and saw that the Spanish military flag was higher than the American flag. I couldn’t help but thinking about it the rest of day. I am aware of the irony of the situation. I was aware of the imperialistic implications that other people hold of the US, but it never bothered me until I was in Puerto Rico, and in that same day I started being bother by being labeled an "empire". I felt uncomfortable when another flag was higher than Americas, something that could be seen as a very imperialistic sentiment.
